


The Last One

by Galaxxi



Series: ask-joeydrewstudios fics [8]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: AU, Angst, Gen, ask-joeydrewstudios, dangerous questions for selfish reasons, implied impending death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 03:50:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14127453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galaxxi/pseuds/Galaxxi
Summary: Henry's the last of the original crew left standing. It's the late 90's now, and he and the toons are all aware he wont be around much longer...





	The Last One

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this for months c': Hope y'all enjoy some angst from the AU that's almost always fluff and happiness~

 Henry was sitting at Joey's... no, it was his desk now. It had been his desk since 1953, when Joey passed. 44 years later, and he's _still_ correcting himself. He was writing scripts for new episodes, just one of the many tasks and responsibilities Joey had left him. He’d always told Henry that he was the best at writing for the cartoons, and that was high praise coming from the man who never formally hired other writers while he was in charge because he didn't trust anyone else with his cartoons. Oh, Joey...

  The studio was long past what he considered its glory days. True, it was doing as well as it ever had before, but things hadn't felt the same since Joey died. Henry was the only one remaining from the original crew, now. First it was Norman, then Thomas, Joey, Sammy, Shawn, Grant, Susie, Wally... now he was the only one left. He'd even outlived his own wife, _and_ his oldest son. The only other ones around who remembered The Old Days were the toons Joey Drew himself had brought to life. They were effectively immortal, they outlived Joey and they'd outlive him soon enough. They'd outlive everyone, assuming nobody dropped holy water or acetone on them. If he thought he was still hurting from loss, he couldn't imagine how bad it would be for them.

  The door to his office creaked as it slowly opened, letting the warm light from the hallway spill into the dim space and overtake the light coming from the small desk lamp. His eyes adjusted and he saw the toons looking less than cheery. Alice was the one that had opened the door, and Bendy had his hands behind his back. Boris was looking down at the imp, and he shared the other's worried expressions. After standing for a moment in the doorway Bendy began to shuffle forward, and the other two toons followed close behind. Alice quietly closed the door before meeting with her friends in front of the desk. Bendy stared up at Henry from across the wooden surface.

  "Hey, you guys." Henry started with a smile. "Why the long faces?"

  The toons all exchanged glances before looking back to Henry, save for Boris who returned his gaze to the ground.

  "Henry, we've... got a favor t'ask." Bendy said, hands nervously toying with something behind his back. Henry hesitated before speaking again.

  "Well, what can I do for you guys, then?"

  Bendy looked down at the floor again, and with his eyes closed he finally put what he was holding on the desk.

  A bottle of ink.

  "It's... from the ink machine-"

  " _No_." Henry cut him off, his smile immediately dropping. He wasn't dumb, he knew where this was going. Bendy's head shot back up, their gazes met. His pie-cut eyes were wide, and he looked like he was about to cry or yell. Maybe both.

  "N-no? What do you mean, ' _no_ '?? Ya didn't even let us finish!"

  "It means _no_ , Bendy. You don’t have to finish." Henry sounded stern, he was using a voice he hadn't used since his last kid moved out. Alice stepped forward.

  "Henry, _please_ , at least hear us out." She pleaded. Boris whined. Henry looked at her, then to the wolf, and finally down to the toon demon still looking at him from behind the corner of the desk. He sighed, and fell back in his chair.

  "We just... you're the only one left, Henry. You're all we got now. We don't wanna lose ya like we lost Joey, or any of the other guys. I-If you become a toon like us, we won't have to worry anymore! You'll... we'll never lose you..." The little toon stopped, hoping to hear he'd convinced him. But Henry was still reclined in his chair, arms crossed and almost glaring daggers at the trio.

  "It's real strong, too. You wouldn't even have to drink much for it to work, we promise!" Bendy nudged the ink well closer to him as he finally finished talking. Henry stared down at it, not believing what was happening. He wondered if the toons were aware enough of the concept of death when Joey started getting sick to ask the same of him, to cross over to their world and exist as they did as toons. If they had, he wondered if he would have taken the offer if he still had his soul.

  "I'm sorry guys, but my answer is still the same. _No_." Henry closed his eyes and shook his head. He was too tired for this.

  " _Please_." Alice begged.

  "I'm-" He tried to begin.

  "Henry, we're practically on our knees, here!" Bendy pleaded.

  "I can't-" He tried again.

  "Henry, don't you... don't you care about us?" Boris cut in. They all stopped. Boris was looking at Henry for the first time now, dots of ink welling up in the corners of his eyes and drops of ink slipping from his form and to the ground. He hated to see Boris cry.

  "Of... Of course I do." He said solemnly.

  "Then why can't you do this for us!?" Bendy shouted. "We're trying to help you here!"

  "No, you're _not_ trying to help me. I don't _want_ to be immortal, Bendy. I've lived my life, I'm going to die one of these days and I've accepted that. I spent a few days as a toon way back when thanks to you, and it's really not for me. I couldn't do that forever, I could hardly do it for a few days! You guys aren’t trying to help _me,_ you’re just trying to help _yourselves!_ " The animator had stood from the old chair, and he was yelling now. The three toons looked entirely shocked, and after another painful moment of silence, Boris started crying. Alice was immediately comforting him and trying not to cry herself.

  "Get ‘em out of here, Alice." The imp mumbled. Alice's head dipped a couple of inches in defeat as she led Boris out of the office, his ears and tail looking as low as they had when Joey died. Alice closed the door quietly and the lock gave a _click_. Now it was only Bendy and Henry alone in the room. Henry glared at his friend who was staring down at the edge of the desk, unsure of what to do next. After another minute Henry sat back down and buried his face in his hands with a heavy sigh. He wasn't prepared for this today. He'd almost forgotten Bendy was there in the several moments of complete silence before the toon finally spoke up, dejected.

  "Why's nobody ever see this stuff from _our_ point of view..."

  When Henry looked up from his hands the office door was open, and Henry was alone once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry, they make up eventually. Remember to leave kudos and a comment if you'd like, they encourage me to keep writing~ :D


End file.
